AN: I really don't mean to leave things unfinished, but seriously, I need to get back into my old stories. Lol So here I am…TADA!

The elevator ride down to Angel's room wasn't awkward perse, and Bella was quiet as she waited for it to stop. Angel hadn't had anyone down in his room ever. Angel just felt awkward for some reason. "Here we are. It's not much, but I have a little guest room here for now until I can get you set up with something," Angel murmured as the elevator doors opened, and Bella stepped off first, taking a quick glance around.

"This is like a mini apartment," She whispered, seeing that he had a fully stocked kitchen and even a bathroom. Angel just chuckled, missing his old home. "I guess so…here there's the kitchen, bathroom, a mini-living room, and through here is the guest bedroom. I have some towels, soap, everything you need if you want to shower. Just let me know if you need anything,"

Bella nodded in thanks, giving him a small smile. "Thank you," Angel let her be, his mind wandering to other things as he started to settle in for the night. He was smart enough to understand that Eve and the partners had something up their sleeve.

He had pocketed her phone the day before and found nothing worth taking a deeper look at but whatever conversation she had, it was important, and whoever this 'she' person was, he had a feeling it had to do with Bella.

He heard Bella moving around, turning on the water and stepping in. He hadn't met a person in a long time that actually needed his help. It gave him a feeling of the old days. The old days before everything went to literal hell. Before Jasmine, before Cordelia ascended to another plane. It almost took him back to the beginning.

Almost.

Bella washed her hair, watching the soap run down her body and down the drain. She bit her lip in thought, dreading to close her eyes tonight. She was praying the nightmares didn't plague her. She could see brown eyes much like her own, frozen, and lifeless.

The screams paralyzed her at night, froze her in place, and it was like the first time. That feeling of dread creeping in her stomach and then everything just drops and spins into a horrible tailspin of horror. The little homeless shelters she managed to find couldn't take her screaming at night, as she would scare others, and freak people out.

The nightmare on the couch the day before was nothing compared to the ones she had on a daily basis. One time she had been in such a nightmare and someone had come up to her in order to wake her. When they got close enough and jostled her out of her sleep, that person suddenly ended up flying across the room, and Bella had dashed out in fear.

She hadn't slept in an actual bed in almost 2 weeks, so sleep has been little to none. The hot water was a relief on her skin, and she could already feel herself getting tired. After she got done washing, she stepped out of the bathroom to see that Angel had left her a shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep in seeing as she didn't have any clean clothes.

She wrapped a towel around her hair and slipped on the t-shirt and took the scrunchie off her wrist to tie a knot in the shorts to keep them up. She yawned, picking up her items off the floor, and found a little bag to put them in until she got a chance to wash them.

She bit her lip, eyeing Angel's cracked door. She let out a breath before going to the door and raising her hand to knock. She knocked twice softly, waiting for a response. Bella could hear his footsteps across the wooden floor, and remembering that she couldn't hear Spike, she figured Angel made noise for her benefit.

He pulled the door open, smiling down at her. Bella threw her thumb over her shoulder. "Thanks for these and getting me set up," Angel walked her to the guest room, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "No problem. I'm just a few feet away. If I'm not here when you wake, Spike maybe, but if not, you just take the elevator up and you'll be back in my office. Do you need anything?" Bella shook her head, and Angel squeezed her shoulder before heading back to his room.

Bella bit her lip again, poking her head out. "Angel?" She called. Angel turned around; his brows raised. She stepped back out, clasping her hands in front of her. "If you…If you hear me screaming, don't wake me," Angel frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"I have really bad nightmares, worse than the one upstairs. I don't want anyone getting hurt," Angel just nodded, deciding to respect her space. He kept the door cracked, not that he needed it seeing as his hearing was still spectacular after his many years as a creature of the undead, but more for Bella's sake so that she'd feel more comfortable.

He had no idea what Bella meant when she told him not to wake her, but to wake up to the sound of her screaming as if she were being murdered was a very jolting experience. Her scream pierced his ears at a volume that made his ears ring, making him jerk up out of his sleep.

Her request to leave her be long forgotten as he hurriedly exited his room and going into the guest room. He went to the bed to wake her, only to get hit with something like an electric shock that knocked him on his ass. He shook his head to clear it, watching as she thrashed in the bed, her legs kicking off the covers, and her hands gripping the sheets like a lifeline.

She sounded as if she were in so much pain, her back arching off the bed, her eyes shut tightly as sweat rolled down her forehead. Her screaming had turned into crying, and then begging, words that Angel couldn't understand or decipher.

He stood up, holding his hand out as he tried to get closer, his body able to go within a few feet of the bed before he could feel that electric current. He was more prepared this time, so he didn't get sent flying across the room, but he did snatch his hand back at the little zap he received.

He looked up as his elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal Spike and Lorne. Spike looked the same as he always did, this time in just a black shirt and a pair of jeans. Lorne on the other hand was dressed in a full pajama set, his hair sticking up in odd directions.

"Holy…" Spike muttered, Lorne right behind him. "Wake her up you idiot! She sounds like she's being tortured," Spike snapped, walking past Angel before he could say anything. "I wouldn't…" Angel started, thinking against it as Spike received the same treatment he did the first time around.

"That's why I won't wake her," Angel sighed, helping Spike to his feet. "Well one of you need to wake her, and it won't be me," Lorne stated, rubbing his temples. Spike shook himself a bit, pumping himself up as he rushed forward, forcing himself past whatever barrier surrounded Bella and onto the bed, grunting a bit at the discomfort.

He violently shook her awake, two seconds away from slapping her silly until she broke herself out of whatever dream she was in, fighting against Spike as she didn't have her bearings yet. Spike grasped her arms pushing them to her side to hold her still, speaking to her softly as she opened her eyes, taking a glance around the room before her shoulders sank, and she laid her head on his shoulders, shaking a bit as she stared off into space.

She swallowed heavily, closing her eyes tightly, a tear slipping down her cheek as her hands grasped at his shirt in a death grip. "I'm sorry," She whispered, and Spike ran a hand through her hair. "It's alright," Spike soothed.

Angel ran a hand down his face before walking into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed. Bella opened her eyes, and they were glossed over with unshed tears, meeting Angel's. "You're okay, you're safe here. What was that? That thing around you?"

Bella sat up a bit, and Spike kept a hold on her shoulders as she brought her legs up into a cross position. "I don't know what it is. Someone more….well human did the same thing you did, and it didn't end so well for them. They were taken to the hospital. I just know that when I have these really bad nightmares, everything just…that happens,"

Lorne had instantly searched through Angel's kitchen finding some Scotch and he poured himself a glass. "If you don't mind me asking, what are your nightmares about?" Lorne questioned, throwing the glass back, swallowing. Bella frowned, licking her lips.

"Victoria murdered my family. She murdered my friends, right in front of me. It's all I see, and she had me once, right in her clutches, and she let me go, but not before giving me something else in return,"

She lifted up the shirt, exposing her right side, and over her ribs was etched a small V. "There wasn't a lot of venom to actually turn me of course, but it burned like hell," Bella flinched as Spike ran a finger across it, snatching his hand away and she put the shirt down.

"I really didn't mean to wake you guys. I told you not to wake me," She looked at Angel then, pointing to his hand. "It'll heal, besides, you sounded pained," Bella frowned, looking away from his intuitive gaze. Angel caught her attention again, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Bella? Are you in pain when you have these nightmares?" She slowly nods, looking down at the bed. "So you feel what you're reliving?" Spike clarified. She nodded again, moving out from his embrace. "How's that possible?" Spike asked.

"It's not. I mean a few years ago Cordelia was experiencing physical attachments from her visions, but that was Wolfram and Hart playing with her visions. This is different," Bella tilted her head at the name, but otherwise stayed quiet, her mind somewhere else for the moment.

"Fred says the results from her blood sample will be ready tomorrow, maybe it has something to do with that," Spike offered, tuning back to Bella. Angel stood from the bed, leaving Spike alone with her. "Lorne, I need you to do a real reading on her. Humans don't just exhibit these kinds of gifts. Maybe you'll find something we can't pick up,"

Lorne rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Angel I've read as much as I could. She's…whatever this is, is different from what I read from her. This is a whole different entity here. The truth is, that girl is broken, terrified, and lost. She's lost hope, purpose, meaning. She's just broken. It plays a hand in whatever supernatural stuff she's got with her, but there's nothing else I can tell you except she needs time, she needs security, and quite frankly…" He trailed off, pulling Angel to the side and out of sight.

His voice lowered as he turned his face in the direction of Bella and Spike. "She needs him. He didn't find her for nothing. Yeah, big plan here with bringing Spike back from the dead and all, but he was here for this moment. We can save her physically, but he has to do the rest,"

Angel blinked a few times as he processed what Lorne was telling him. "How do you know this?" Angel questioned. Lorne rolled his eyes. "I read auras vampire, how else? They match like twin flames, and if we're talking about eternal love…that's it,"

Spike had finally coaxed Bella back to sleep, hoping that he managed to bring her some sort of comfort. He left the room, cracking the door before looking to Angel and Lorne. "Mind if I crash down here tonight mate? I promised I'd stay,"

Angel just waved him on, too tired to get into with him, and Spike didn't give him any flak about it, crashing onto the leather couch in the living room.

The rest of the evening went without incident, and upon arriving to work, Fred had left some clothes out for Bella in Angel's office to which he had found and taken them downstairs for her when she woke. Bella woke looking a bit better, although the bags under her eyes attested to the fact that she was indeed lacking on sleep.

Spike's face was the first she saw, him having been awake when she emerged from the bathroom, freshly dressed and fully awake. "How are we feeling today pet?" He questioned, sliding her a cup of coffee. "Better, thank you again. You didn't have to stay," She murmured, wrapping her hands around the warm mug, taking a sip.

"I promised you I would," He shrugged. Bella turned a light shade of pink, smiling up at him gratefully.

Spike watched her for a moment as she grabbed the mug, gulping down the brown liquid like it was water. "When's the last time you've had a full, uninterrupted rest?" Bella sat the mug down, brows drawn. "In a while," She mumbled, setting the mug to the side.

"Where's Angel?" She asked, hoping to change the subject. Spike led her to the elevator, waving her in before stepping next to her. He pressed the L and the doors closed.

"So tell me pet, why did that crazy bitch of a cold one let you go?" Spike glanced over at her, and Bella shrugged. "I think I'm a toy to her you know? She taught me what it's like to lose everything,"

Spike nudged his shoulder against hers, sending her his signature smirk. "Can't lose me," Bella's frown upturned into a small smile. "Unless you count the sun and a stab through the heart, right?"

Spike shrugged. "Eh, more or less," The elevator dinged, and Spike decided to mess with Bella a little bit.

He let her go first, and once he stepped out, he covered his face, frantically yelling and dramatically dropping to his knees. "I'm melting!" Bella just furrowed her brows at him, glancing over at Angel who just shook his head.

She crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips as she tried not to laugh. Spike peeked through his fingers seeing her unfazed. "Oh come on love, not even a little concern?" Bella snorted, a small laugh escaping her lips as she rolled her eyes.

"I see why he ignores you," She motioned towards Angel who smiled at her. "How are you feeling?" He asked, and Spike composed himself, sitting on the edge of Angel's desk.

Bella sighed. "I'd feel a lot better if I didn't have to answer that all the time. I'm better. Ready for the day I guess. Any news on Victoria or the Cullen's?"

Angel sympathized, and sat her down, sitting behind his desk. "Nothing yet. I can assure you though that in here, nothing is getting through to you. We've set up some new sensors to detect Cold Ones. Wesley and Gunn are still working on some things so that we can hopefully intercept who is trailing after her. Based on last night, I wanted to run a test, only with your permission of course. It requires you to go to sleep,"

Bella frowned, shaking her head. "I don't want to sleep," Angel sighed softly, standing and coming to her side. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I know, and I don't want to ask you, but I think it'll help us figure out what's going on with you. I won't ask again after this, I promise. Nobody will get hurt, it'll be set up remotely where no one can get in harm's way,"

Bella gulped, and nodded, looking him in the eyes. "If it gets bad, will you wake me?" Angel nodded, and Spike responded, "At the first sign of trouble,"

Bella took in a deep breath, and stood, following behind Angel, Spike falling into step behind her. He led her through the lobby, and this time Bella was more prepared, still ticking herself between the two vampires, although no one would dare mess with Angel.

He led her up a small flight of stairs towards the second level, and into a lab. Bella smiled as she saw Fred. "Bella! Nice to see you're up and about. I want to monitor your brain activity while you sleep. Angel informed me about your nightmare. Do your nightmares leave any physical residual energy on your body? Like scratches? Anything physically manifesting itself?"

Bella shook her head warily eyeing the bed and the machine. "No, they're just vivid," Fred wrote something down, pushing her glasses up on her face. "If you can get on the bed for me," Bella rubbed her hands together, getting onto the medical bed. Fred started to place two brain monitors to her temples and then hooked her up to an IV.

"Now, I'm going to give you a sedative to put you to sleep, it works quickly, and you'll just have to countdown from 10, okay?" Bella took a deep breath, nodding. "I don't want to, but this might be best to strap you down,"

Bella frowned but understood that things could get quite dangerous. "Okay," Spike was a bit antsy, and Angel tried to be supportive gaining a bit of an understanding of what laid in wait for Spike if things actually went their way. "Relax," He murmured.

Angel walked p next to Fred, staring down at Bella, a reassuring smile on his face. She worriedly looked up at him, swallowing. "If things get too…" She trailed off and Angel nodded. "We'll wake you," Fred held up a syringe, inserting it into the IV. "Bella you're going to count down from 10 okay?"

Bella nodded, closing her eyes. "10…9….8….7….6…..5….4….3…." Bella's eyes closed, and her head lolled to the side as she succumbed to a deep sleep.

Fred flipped on some switches to the monitor that showed thermal imaging of her brain. "When whatever happens, happens, we should see a change in her brain activity,"

Angel ushered everyone out of the room and behind the safety glass. "Is this really necessary?" Fred asked, watching Bella through the glass as she didn't see anything out of the ordinary so far. "Give it a minute or two. Let her heart rate even out a bit,"

Angel advised, crossing his arms as they waited. 5 to 6 minutes later, Fred leaned forward as Bella's brain activity started to activate the sensors within the monitor.

"Is this normal?" Spike asked. Fred furrowed her brows, glancing over at him briefly. "Yes, for people who have vivid dreams or dream at all, there should be some activity going on. It's all about the brain activity, and what I'm looking for here is to see if her prefrontal lobe spikes to an abnormal level,"

Fred started typing away on a computer, pulling up the thermal image of Bella's brain. "See the yellow and green, that's normal, and here in this part of the brain where it registers pain is gaining some activity. Still, this is normal…." Fred kept her eyes on the monitor, her brows furrowing as Bella started to physically become agitated.

Bella's reaction was much like last night's, her body held down by the restraints. "This isn't good at all," Fred murmured. Angel looked down, trying to understand what she was seeing. "What isn't good?" Fred used her finger to circle around the image. "Do you see the white outline here?" Angel nodded.

"That's…that's never been seen before. Her brain is…this isn't good. Her whole prefrontal lobe is white-hot, again, impossible, but that's showing signs beyond the human magnitude. This physically isn't possible for a human,"

Fred moved over to the side, looking through a microscope. She lifted her head, peering down at Bella below. "Wake her up," She stated. Everyone paused at first, the franticness in her voice spurring them to move. The lights started to flicker, and anything electrical was starting to short out, and Fred took off her glasses. "WAKE HER UP!" She yelled, backing away from the computer as it sparked.

Spike and Angel ran down the stairs, narrowly dodging sparks of equipment, rushing towards the bed. Spike took the IV out of her arm, and Angel started to undo the straps over her wrists. Angel kept her arms pinned, and Spike went about getting Bella to wake up.

He helped sit her up, shaking her awake, lightly hitting her face. "Bella, you need to get up now," The lights in the lab started to flicker, and some bulbs went out. "None of it is real. You don't want anyone to get hurt, remember?"

Spike words were slowly helping her come around, and her eyes fluttered open. Angel let up, standing back a bit. Bella ran a hand down her face, shaking her head slowly. She looked around the lab, seeing some of the lights flickering.

Angel looked around the room, giving her a one-armed shrug. "You blew out some of the lights," Bella just nodded slowly. "I see…" She murmured. Fred came down the stairs, looking a bit frazzled, but she gave Bella a gentle smile. "You did great, I got a good reading and based on my observations, the venom in your system has completely….hmmm enhanced your brain. It's like you're supercharged. It makes sense why you're feeling everything. I don't think there's any way to actually detach the venom from your bloodstream. It just regenerates what is taken. It's not a bad thing, it doesn't grow,"

Bella frowned, mulling over her words. "How do I control whatever this is?" Fred frowned, having not found an answer for that yet.

"I don't know yet, but we'll help you. It starts with you…."

The day progressed on, and Bella decided to tour the firm, hoping to get acquainted with her new home. She stayed on the lower level of the building, walking around, somewhat bummed out by the fact that it was literally a regular building, at least from what she could tell.

She did her best to stay away from the creatures that were just a little too big, or a little too creepy. They paid her no mind for the most part, treating her as just a simple person.

She rounded a corner, running into someone in the process. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry," She apologized, realizing she ran into one of the people that worked in the lab with Fred. "Oh, it's no worries! Uh, I was in a rush," Bella frowned at the lunch that had apparently got on their lab coat.

"Derek," He held out his hand for her to shake, and Bella shook it awkwardly, bending down to help him pick up his papers. "I got it," He murmured, ducking down, bumping his head into hers in the process. Bella rubbed her head, glancing at him. "I thought I was clumsy," She murmured. Grasping the papers in her hand, standing up first.

She looked down at the papers in her hand, tilting her head. "Um…are you doing research on me?" She asked, slightly appalled as there were notes upon notes on her. She had only been there for two, three days max, and even she knew it was impossible to have that many notes.

Derek rubbed the back of his neck, taking the papers from her. "Yeah, kind of. You're a phenomenon that I've never seen before. I've been studying your brain activity from today, and you could potentially have the power to take out a small city. I've never seen anything like that,"

He gushed excitedly. Weird vibes rolled off him in waves and Bella slowly nodded, jerking her thumb behind her. "I um, I'm not sure to be thrilled or what, but um, I'm going to find my way back to the main part of the building,"

Derek stopped her by waving his papers in front of her. "Wait, look. Can I show you what I've been working on? I think I found a way for you to control your brain," Bella frowned, and before she could protest, he had grabbed her wrist, pulling her in another direction.

He led her to more a secluded part of the building, and Bella realized they were in a miniature lab. There was nothing in except a few tables and chairs. In the middle of the room was a drawing of something she couldn't understand.

"So this could de-amplify your brain waves enough for you to maintain your control. It's kind of, I wouldn't say a shock collar, but like one that can be worn on your wrist to help keep the energy within your brain contained. I've already learned how to contain energy and now I just need to match the energy level to you…." Bella kind of zoned out as he babbled, realizing that this was where mad scientists got their start.

She could see the crazed look in his eyes as he explained the difficult process to her, animatedly excited as if he weren't talking to her like she was a science experiment. Bella held her hand up, stopping him from saying any more. "I appreciate you trying to help, but I think I'd like to figure this out naturally. Great idea you have, but it doesn't sound very safe,"

Derek looked dejected, nodding in agreement. Bella felt bad, so she gave him a smile. "Keep up the work though! You're very smart and one day you'll do something with this idea," Derek's mood changed considerably for the best, thanking her for being encouraging.

She let herself out of the miniature lab, looking around for which way to go. "Do you know which way…." She looked back in the room to see him completely focused on something and she just shook her head. She did her best to remember the way she came, a lot of the hallways looking the same.

She was sure she passed by this one office three times now, and she grumbled to herself. She rounded another corner, running into what felt like a brick wall. Hands steadied her, and Bella smiled in relief, the leather coat bringing her a sense of comfort. "A familiar face when I need one,"

Spike just chuckled. "Been looking everywhere for you love. What were you doing back there?" Bella was about to explain it to him, but she just sighed. "I got lost," She chuckled. Spike just threw an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah it's easy to do that here…"

AN: Not long in terms of content, but once I get back in the groove, I'll get this right. Stay safe everyone!